BADAL CALLS UPON PEOPLE TO CARVE OUT A HARMONIOUS
SOCIETY BASED ON TEACHINGS OF BHAGWAN VALMIK JI
EMPLOYEES OF MOHALLA SANITATION COMMITTEES
TO BE REGULARISED SOON – BADAL
LUDHIANA OCTOBER 13, 2008
Punjab Chief Minister Mr.Parkash Singh Badal called upon the people
of Punjab to carve out an ideal, value based and harmonious society
by following the teachings of Bhagwan Valmik ji to strengthen the
bonds of compassion, love, peace and brotherhood in the state.
Greeting people at a state level celebrations to commemorate the
Parkash Utsav of Bhagwan Valmik ji here today, Mr. Badal said that
India is known worldwide as a soil blessed by Gods & Goddesses,
Gurus, Saints and Rishis, besides preaching, they were also instrumental
in giving social order to our society for ages, that had to be scrupulously
followed by one and all. Moreover, the existence of different religions
had made our country a unique land of cultural diversity with secular
approach. He further said that Punjab had also been specially known
for its composite culture and religious tolerance.
Mr. Badal said that Bhagwan Valmiki ji was a great exponent and
forefather of Indian culture & civilisation. "Bhagwan Valmiki
ji was the creator of ever first epic, the holy 'Ramayana' that
occupies a paramount place in Indian religious literature and has
become part and parcel of Indian culture. Due to its ethics and
teachings it has crossed the boundaries of India and has made a
significant place in the world. The teachings of Bhagwan Valmik
ji are still very much relevant in our present social structure
and an ideal society can be formed by following the path shown by
Valmiki ji", said Mr. Badal.
Mr. Badal said that for establishing true secularism every one
should respect other religions while practicing his own religious
principles to further strengthen amity and communal harmony in the
state. He said that with this view the SAD-BJP Government had started
celebration of all-important festivals of different communities
and religions as State-level functions. Mr. Badal also underscored
the need for religious tolerance, magnanimity and unity in the larger
interest of our state and society. He called upon the people belonging
to different communities to strengthen the social fabric of our
country by displaying the age-old ethos of understanding and good-will
as preached by our great Gurus, Saints and Seers.
Mr. Badal announced that the employees of Mohalla Sanitation Committees
would be regularised soon after abolishing these committees in the
state.
Reiterating firm commitment of SAD-BJP Government to uplift the
downtrodden and underprivileged section of the society i.e. Dalits,
SCs/BCs, who were made the target of systematic neglect and injustice
during the regime of previous Government, Mr.Badal said that it
was the agony of the fate of our country that 70% of the total population
was earning just Rs.20 per day. The policies and programmes of various
governments ruled for a longer period in the country were responsible
for such like situation, added Mr. Badal. He further said that the
SAD-BJP government had chalked out a comprehensive programme under
which various welfare schemes were being implemented like provision
of Rs. 15000/- at the wedding of every girl belonging to Dalit section
without any pre-condition such as below poverty line (as imposed
by the previous Govt.), to allot 5 marlas of construction space
to every SC/BC/Dalit families to construct houses/flats and the
financial assistance given under this would be increased to Rs.
50,000/-. Regarding education Mr. Badal said that state government
would also provide free education to the poor intelligent students
up to University level. The Chief Minister announced that Valmiki
Bhawan, Ludhiana would be renovated soon.The Chief Minister paid
obeisance to Maharishi Valmik ji and joined Sohba Yatra along with
many SAD and BJP leaders and party workers.
Among others who addressed the function Mr. Hira Singh Gabria
Minister for Jail & Tourism, Mr. Harish Rai Dhanda CPS, Mr.
Sharanjit Singh Dhillon MP, Mr. Harish Bedi MLA, Mr. Kanwal Inder
Singh member SGPC, Mr. Jagdish Singh Garcha Ex-Minister, Mr. Inder
Iqbal Singh Atwal Ex-MLA, Dharamguru Dr. Dev Singh Adwaiti, Mr.
Laxman Drawir, Mr. Ashwani Sahota, Ch. Yash Pal, Mr. Mohan Veer
Chohan, Mr. Naresh Dhingan, Mr. Vijay Danav, Sh. Chander Pal.
BADAL APPEALS COUNTRYMEN TO PARTICIPATE
TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION OF GURU-TA-GADDI OF SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB
Chandigarh OCTOBER 13, 2008
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today appealed the
countrymen to participate in the tercentenary celebrations of Guru-Ta-Gaddi
of Sri Guru Granth Sahib with religious fervour and enthusiasm to
strengthen the bonds of brotherhood among various communities besides
championing the cause of peace, national integration and communal
harmony.
In his address at a meeting of National Integration Council held
at New Delhi, Mr.Badal also urged the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh and other dignitaries to be the part of these celebrations
which could be a great unifying factor as this mega event would
become a landmark in religeo-cultural national integration. The
Chief Minister said: "The message of universal brotherhood-Sarbat
Da Bhala (Welfare of all mankind) – of Guru Granth Sahib can
be disseminated and all political forces can find a common cause
to underline the feeling of belonging to a higher cause."
Mr. Badal said: "In this, Punjab can be a torch bearer not
only to the rest of the country but to the whole world. At a time
when divisive forces are exploiting religious, caste and ideological
differences to foment unrest and tear apart the national secular
fabric, it will be in the fitness of things to bring national focus
on the tercentenary celebrations of Guruta of holy Sikhs scripture,
Sri Guru Granth Sahib in the next few weeks as celebrations are
already peaking around the globe and a groundswell of religious
fervour is sweeping the people irrespective of their religious affiliations".
PUNJAB SEEKS LIFTING OF BAN ON EXPORT OF
NON BASMATI RICE
Chandigarh, October 13, 2008
The Punjab Government today urged the Union Government to immediately
lift the ban imposed on the export of all non Basmati variety of
rice and to reconsider the categorization of PUSA 1121 as Basmati
variety.
This request has been made in a communication sent by the Punjab
Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Sh. Adesh Partap
Singh Kairon to the Union Minister of Commerce Sh Kamal Nath. In
the communication it was requested that in view of the ongoing procurement
of paddy in the State, the Union Government should lift the ban
so as to enable the rice millers of the State to make purchases
of the Superior Grade A non basmati varieties from the markets of
the State. This step would, on the one hand enable the farmers to
get higher prices for their produce and on the other help the millers
to earn valuable foreign exchange for the country. This would give
much needed impetus to the industrial economy of the Punjab in the
present time of recession, Mr. Kairon pointed out.
Keeping in view the dire financial conditions of the Punjab farmers
and with an objection of ensuring good prices to the prices for
their produce, the Punjab Food Civil Supplies Minister urged the
Union Government to lift the ban at the earliest so that the benefit
of this could reach them. It would go along way in helping the farmers
to tide over the financial crisis, he added.
PUNJAB ALL SET TO FULLY COMPUTERIZE PWD
(B & R) DEPARTMENT
CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 13, 2008
Punjab is all set to fully computerize and network the working
of PWD (B & R) Department, to monitor the ongoing projects and
bring transparency in the working of Department.
Disclosing this here today Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, PWD(B&R)Minister
said that focus of computerization would be on systems for financial
management, personnel management, office automation, messaging,
file tracking etc.
Giving the details of the Project Mr. Dhindsa said that the department
also planned to use the State wide WAN. He said that road sector
specific systems would be procured, developed/ customized and implemented
to meet the requirements for Roads Information System, Roads Maintenance
system, GIS based MIS system, Project management system etc. The
Minister said that these road sector specific systems would be fully
integrated to the core applications to ensure seamless exchange
of information and data for effective operations and decision making
in the department.
The PWD (B & R) Minister said that Punjab Government was upgrading
and constructing 1500 kms roads in the state at the cost of Rs.1500
crore in a World Bank Aided Project. He said that under this project
Punjab Government was also engaging Project Consultant for Computerization
of PWD [B&R] Punjab. Punjab Roads and Bridges Development Board
[PRBDB]. The Punjab Government has also invited expression of interest
for computerizing the department.
PADDY PROCUREMENT CROSSES 36 LAC TONNES
MARK IN PUNJAB
Chandigarh, October 13, 2008
Paddy procurement in Punjab crossed 36 Lac tonnes mark in Punjab
with Mandis of Forozepur division maintaining its lead.
According to an official spokesman by Sunday, Paddy procurement
by six government agencies and traders reached 36,35,551 tonnes
in Punjab. He said that PUNGRAIN procured 8,52,296 tonnes of paddy
(26.4%) whereas MARKFED procured 7, 45,772 tonnes of paddy (23.1%).
PUNSUP procured 7, 43,224 tonnes of paddy (23.0%) whereas Punjab
State Warehousing Corporation procured 4, 34,709 tonnes of paddy
(13.5%) besides 4,05,795 tonnes of paddy (12.6%) procured by Punjab
Agro. The Central Government Agency FCI procured only 45,732 tonnes
of paddy (1.4%). The Millers procured 4, 08,023 tonnes of paddy
(11.2 %) by Sunday.
The mandis in Amritsar Division recorded 12,75,361 tonnes of paddy
with Kapurthala recording maximum paddy by Sunday to the tune of
3, 02,561 tonnes. The mandis of Ferozepur division recorded 19,16
,577 tonnes of paddy with maximum of 7, 49,250 tonnes of paddy being
recorded by Ferozepur district.
The spokesman said that six government agencies have paid over
Rs. 1818.13 crores for paddy procured by agencies during first 13
days of current Kharif Marketing Season.
The spokesman said that farmers of the State are being made payment
of paddy procured by the government agencies within 48 hours of
lifting of paddy from the procurement centres.
The Punjab Food Supply had setup 1622 procurement centres throughout
the state to ensure smooth procurement of paddy.
Cooperative Sugar Mills to
generate power of worth Rs. 200 crore : Capt. Kanwaljit Singh
Chandigarh , October 13, 2008
The Punjab Government has chalked out an ambitious plan to generate
power to the tune of Rs. 200 crore per annum by setting up Co-generation
power plants at all the state Cooperative sugar mills in the state.
This was disclosed by Punjab Cooperation Minister Capt. Kanwaljit
Singh here today while presiding over a one day workshop organised
by Sugarfed to suggest various ways and means to make the state
cooperative sugar mills self- sufficient. The workshop was attended
by the Chairmen and Board of Directors of all the Cooperative sugar
mills.
Capt. Singh revealed that the state cooperative mills have the
potential of generating 100-120 MW power annually and the State
Electricity Board has offered to purchase the proposed power at
the rate of Rs. 2.86/- per unit thereby creating an additional revenue
of more than Rs. 200 crore annually, while the existing losses of
all these mills were just pegged at Rs. 77.95 crore .
He informed that a comprehensive revival plan to convert these
mills into mega sugar complexes has been drafted. Accordingly the
enhancement in the crushing capacity of the mills has become imperative
as now these days a mill having a minimum crushing capacity of 5000
MT sugarcane was only sustainable. Besides this, creation of additional
sources of income with special emphasis was being laid on diversification
and production of ethanol as the Government of India had already
allowed the blending of ethanol in petrol and diesel up to five
percent, which would be further increased to ten percent in the
coming year.
The Minister said that the state government had agreed in principle
to grant bottling license to three distilleries of the state Cooperative
sugar mills and in this regard proposals were being drafted.
The Minister categorically said that the Rs. 22 crore out of total
pending 37 crore arrears of sugarcane growers would be disbursed
within a week and efforts were being made to clear all the arrears
in near future.
Capt. Singh further informed that the Registrar Cooperative Societies
has been directed to constitute a high level committee of senior
officers to streamline the functioning of Cooperative Institutions
to bring more efficiency and competence in the day to day working
thereby cutting short the time of decision making on the pattern
of private sectors and submit its report within a stipulated timeframe
of one month.
He urged that Chairmen and Board of Directors of these mills to
work in unison and efficiently to realize the farmers that Cooperative
sugar mills were their own mills and asked them to change their
mindset and approach keeping in view the ever increasing competition
from private players, whose sole aim was to exploit the farmers.
Earlier Mr. VK Bhalla MD Sugarfed welcomed the Cooperation Minister.
Sh. Pritam Singh Kaunta Chairman Sugarfed, Sh. Muneshwar Chander
MD Puncofed, Mr. Tarsem Lal and Sh. Sandeep Singh also expressed
their views on the occasion.
Council for Integration or
Disintegration?
Badal's "introspection" speech floors
NIC: CM calls for special NIC session on Minorities, SC/STs
Chandigarh OCTOBER 13, 2008
Holding politicians and unscrupulous groups responsible for the
rise of communal and ideological extremism in the country, Punjab
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today at New Delhi called for
"consensus of ethics on political conduct and the evolution
of a common minimum programme against sectarian and communal violence
to preserve national integration."
The Chief Minister also warned the countrymen against the specter
of violence based on ideological extremism "unless we take
immediate steps to remove the ever widening gap between the rich
and the poor."
Deviating from the text of his prepared speech and speaking impromptu
at a meeting of National Integration Council here today, Mr. Badal
also bemoaned that fora such as the Council had also become nothing
more than a photo-opportunity for politicians and a platform for
declaring known positions based on communal and class interests
of the speakers concerned. "As a result, even this august body
functions more as a "National Disintegration Council than a
platform for unity," said the Chief Minister.
Mr. Badal, whose unconventional speech was heard amidst pin-drop
silence, stunned a galaxy of national leaders with his characteristic
candour. Urging politicians to rise above the vote bank politics
cutting across the party lines for redeeming the scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes in true sprit, Mr. Badal called for convening
a special session of the National Integration Council and the National
Development Council devoted exclusively to the economic welfare
of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the minorities.
He also underscored the need to join hands for ensuring equitable
opportunities and distribution of resources to the under-privileged
sections of society. Among the urgent steps to be taken were the
provision of 'Suitable environment for their growth, including availability
of livable housing, clean drinking water and access to elementary
health care and quality education. The concept of poverty and the
Below Poverty Line should be redefined in the light of ground realities.
The Chief Minister struck a highly personal and emotive note on
the issue of national unity. "As someone who was close personal
witness to the partition of the country and the holocaust that followed
it, I can say that the country's tomorrow looks even more worrisome
than its present," he said, advocating a major all-party initiative
to address the issues of communalism and extremism.
The Chief Minister said that conditions of poverty and illiteracy
were the main reasons for the rise of ideological and religious
extremism, and pointed out that the best way to fight extremism
of any kind was to remove conditions of social, religious, political
and economic injustice which were exploited by opportunistic elements
to disturb peace. He said this problem could be effectively tackled
through a mixture of administrative, political and economic initiatives.
Mr. Badal said that economic or ideological extremism springs
from conditions of economic injustice and the failure of the system
to provide the benefits of equitable development to the common man,
especially the poor and the down trodden. In many places, it takes
the shape of left extremism which is already affecting peace in
several parts of the country".
Mr. Badal said that minorities in the country were feeling alienated
because of the failure of the centre to provide effective safeguards
and to protect, preserves and promote their identiy. He said that
the "highly ill-advised move to redefine the concept of minorities
as state specific was fraught with serious dangers to our national
unity.Minorities must be allowed to flourish in an atmoshphere free
from any unreasonable constraints.
The Chief Minister appealed to all political parties in the country
to tailor their political philosophy and agenda in a manner that
these promote the cause of communal harmony, social justice and
equitable development, with special emphasis on the poor and the
down trodden.
Citing regional imbalance as one of the major factors that had
adversely affected Punjab's economic growth, Mr.Badal mentioned
that the grant of special incentives to promote industrialization
and economic development in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh
and Uttarakhand had led to a virtual flight of industry from Punjab.
"Such decisions must be re-considered so that no State is adversely
impacted by them, as Punjab has been in this case. We do not advocate
the withdrawal of these incentives to our neighboring states; we
merely seek their extension to Punjab".
Mr. Badal categorically said that the planning process in our country
must be drastically altered, decentralized and brought in tune with
the federal principle to remove these regional imbalances. He said
"The State government is in the best position to understand
the problems of the people and their specific requirements, but
they are not involved in the formulation of policies and programmes
which directly affect them. Genuine federalism alone holds the key
to the resolution of our development related problems".
Mr. Badal also averred that the formulas for devolution of Central
funds should be recast in such way that states which contributed
to the central kitty more should also receive more. "The top-down
approach to development has completely failed. That is why the fruit
of economic development are not reaching the targeted end-beneficiaries"
said the Chief Minister.
Mr.Badal advocated that instead of putting in place a mechanism
for addressing and redressing the concerns of our minorities, we
keep harping on an artificial uniformity. Mr.Badal said "Let
us frankly admit that despite our claims to the contrary, minorities,
including the Muslims and the Christians, are not feeling safe in
the country".
The Chief Minister was accompanied by his Media Advisor Mr.Harcharn
Bains,Chief Secretary Mr. Ramesh Inder Singh,Additional Principal
Secretary Mr.Gagandeep Singh Brar.
PUNJAB CM GREETS PEOPLE ON THE PARKASH UTSAV
OF BHAGWAN VALMIK JI
CHANDIGARH OCTOBER 13, 2008
Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today extended his
greetings to the people of Punjab on the auspicious occasion of
Parkash Utsav of Bhagwan Valmik ji and exhorted them to follow his
teachings and ideology to carve out an ideal society regardless
of caste, colour and creed.
In his message, Mr. Badal said that Bhagwan Valmik Ji, the creator
of first ever epic the holy 'RAMAYANA' was a great exponent of Indian
culture & civilization. His masterpiece creation, 'Ramayana'
is a fountainhead of human culture, moral values & ethics, reservoir
of wisdom besides storehouse of all conceivable human values through
which Bhagwan Valmik ji propagated the message of ideal life based
on Righteousness (Dharma) to the society.
Mr. Badal called upon the people to celebrate this sacred occasion
collectively rising above the parochial considerations of casteism
there by paving a way for altruism in human life as preached by
Bhagwan Valmik ji.
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